Bret Hart Talks About His First WWE Title Reign, How WrestleMania Should End & More

WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart was interviewed by The Boston Herald. Here are some highlights:

His first WWE title reign being cut short: “I was really looking forward to working with Yoko at WrestleMania IX. When I won the belt in October of ’92, it wasn’t like I had the stack of guys that Hogan had to work with when the talent roster was so deep. When I was champion, the roster had thinned out because of drug testing and a lot of the big names were gone. Jake Roberts was gone, and that was somebody I was supposed to wrestle but never happened. I was supposed to wrestle the (Ultimate) Warrior at The Royal Rumble, and that never happened either.

“Then [Hulk] Hogan came back, I was told by Vince that Hogan had nothing to do with what I was doing. You can imagine how shocked I was when Hogan ended up with the belt at WrestleMania IX. I had every intention of going over in that match with Yoko, so I had no idea that my title reign was going to be so abruptly ended. I was caught off-guard by that, to be honest. I was told when I won the belt that I was going to be champion for a long time, but at the same time, Vince is always very clear when you win the belt and tells you, ‘Anything can happen.’ I felt I didn’t have my chance to prove I was good as I thought I was.”

How this year’s WrestleMania should end: “I hope they give Daniel Bryan his chance to win the belt at WrestleMania. He earned it a long time ago, but it wouldn’t surprise me – like Charlie Brown with the football – if they pull it away from him one last time. I really hope they give him his proper run, as he hasn’t had the opportunity yet to be the champion he deserves to be. Hopefully this year at WrestleMania, it will be a crowning achievement for Daniel Bryan.”

CM Punk leaving WWE: “When you look at it closely, Punk’s burned out. He’s always given 100 percent in all his matches, and delivered some of the best pay-per-view matches in the past 10 years. And it’s not easy when there are legends who only work part-time, and guys like Punk and Bryan do all the work, and watch someone like Brock Lesnar check out Wrestling i n c.walk in and take those big matches and big paydays without having to be on the road all the time. I think that had a lot to do with his decision, and rightfully so.

“One of Vince McMahon’s favorite sayings is, ‘Life’s not fair.’ I don’t see Punk being a factor at WrestleMania, but he still has a lot of greatness left in him. As a fan, I hope he comes back, and as a wrestler, I have a lot of respect for him, too.”